Posted on 04/08/2015 9:17:49 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
He’ll have $31 million in the bank soon, they say.
Dathan Voelter isn’t a well-known name among Republican political operatives. But Voelter, an Austin-based attorney at Freescale Semiconductor, is the only person publicly associated with the cluster of four super PACs that he says is about to raise $31 million to support Ted Cruz’s presidential candidacy. The PACs can raise unlimited sums, and do not have to disclose their donors, so Voelter is the front man for the billionaires putting their money behind Cruz.
Bloomberg’s Mark Halperin broke the news about the PACs on Wednesday, and he notes that “there are no known cases in which an operation backing a White House hopeful has collected this much money in less than a week.”
Since he surprise victory in 2012, Cruz has been a robust grassroots fundraiser, particularly online, but his team has long known that if he is going to be a competitive candidate in 2016, he is going to have to raise the sort of serious, eye-popping money that establishment candidates like Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton are already hauling in. The formation of the various PACs has been in the works for months, and their public announcement on the day after Rand Paul launched his presidential campaign is no accident.
“Our goal is to guarantee Senator Cruz can compete against any candidate,” Voelter said in a statement. “Supporters of the Senator now have a powerful vehicle with the resources necessary to aid in his effort to secure the Republican nomination and win back the White House.”
Cruz, however, already had a super PAC devoted to boosting his candidacy. That PAC, Stand for Principle, was founded last year. Though it was loosely directed by Cruz’s longtime friend and former debate partner David Panton, it was officially led by former Newt Gingrich fundraiser Maria Strollo Zack. The PAC had pulled in a paltry $300,000 by the beginning of 2015, and, according to two people with knowledge of the situation, the senator’s would-be backers didn’t like what they saw, at least not enough to put their millions there.
So now, there is another group of PACs under different direction. Keep the Promise, Voelter said in his statement, “can provide the ‘appropriate air cover’ in the battle against Senator Cruz’s opponents in the Washington establishment and on the political left.”
“We plan to support the effort of millions of courageous conservatives who believe 2016 is our last opportunity to ‘keep the promise’ of America for future generations,” he said.
— Eliana Johnson is Washington editor of National Review.
” Keep the Promise, Voelter said in his statement, “can provide the ‘appropriate air cover’ in the battle against Senator Cruz’s opponents in the Washington establishment and on the political left.”
“We plan to support the effort of millions of courageous conservatives who believe 2016 is our last opportunity to ‘keep the promise’ of America for future generations,” he said.”
Well done!
” My take is lots of what Rand Paul says is pitched to the Koch Brothers and similar type millionaire-billionaire Republican donors”
Your take is my take.
http://www.texastribune.org/2015/04/08/3-super-pacs-set-back-cruzs-2016-campaign/
Pro-Cruz Super PACs Expect $31 Million First-Week Haul
I find it interesting that Cruz installs such fear, even in the National Review, that he has them behaving like a fact free reporter from an extreme left wing magazine.
The article is titled “Meet Ted Cruz’s billionaire donors,” when in fact there is nothing whatsoever in the article identifying the donors, much less establishing that they are billionaires.
William Buckley must be turning over in his grave.
ping
Me too. I think the GOP elite are tired of a majority of the conservative base who are not as "sophisticated" as they are. They want their votes, but not their input.
Cruz presents a problem because he is as well educated and articulate as the cream of the GOPe, but he also connects with the conservative base, and will listen to the base.
The left has billionaire donors as well, most of them are not even US citizens.
Funny, I must have missed the scary NRO headline about Jebby's billionaire donors.
Even though all you NJ folks are so used to lyin crooked politicians, you do not need to worry about Cruz. He IS the real deal!
Even some Big Money contributors can be America loving patriots.
We could be so lucky to have the Primaries come down to Walker and Cruz!
2016 donors bump for later....
2016 fundraising bump for later...
I’ll give him everything I can spare.
When I saw National Review I knew it couldn’t be a positive piece. About a conservative??? No way. Statist, statist, über alles...
I’m a small donor, but would Dathan Voelter accept monthly donation from me so that my name would not be released?
I think PACs can keep donors private. That’s why they’re used.
5.56mm
yep, and announced the same day Rand announces he’s running.
Purely coincidence, I’m sure....
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